Obsession
by yume girl 91
Summary: Bound by ties that span the centuries, he searches for her, unable to sever the bond of love and obsession that entraps them. Au IchiRuki
1. Encounter

Obsession CH. 1 Encounter

The day was warm, not so unseasonably for the sleepy residents of the quiet street. It seemed nice here, the man reflected. Observing with some detachment the early morning routines of the people as if from a spyglass. Indeed his perspective was much different than that of an ordinary human. While a cheerful heavy-set landlady swept the front walk of the apartment complex, a small little boy was asking her in the manner of children if she would play with him.

The lady whom seemed a kindly sort and not apt to usually ignore the specimen of unkemptness that the child in rags presented; made no sign of hearing or anything of even seeing the boy. As all ordinary humans do, she moved on, finished with the task and went inside, paying the child nor he at his approach any concern.

"Hey..."

The boy was looking after the direction where the landlady had disappeared.

Not at all bothered by the lack of attention the spirit was showing, he dropped to a crouch, his mouth in a perpetual frown softened just the slightest when the child looked back at him. "I'll play with you."

(*~*)

Rukia couldn't believe she was late. _The first day of the new semester and_...she stopped dead in her tracks. _She had forgotten her promise to that little boy_..._dammit_. Tightening her fist around the black strap of the messenger bag she briefly considered running back to retrieve the plastic model airplane that had been her brother's. _I promised_..

A quick glance to the slim pink watch her friend Orihime had given her last month, showed the hands at 7:35. _A few minutes_. Swiftly she wheeled around and beat a hasty path to the narrow two-story apartment house much like any other that could be found in Karakura's residential side.

Within minutes, the petite dark-haired girl in a light gray uniform had reached the sidewalk again, the item she had gone back to retrieve tucked beneath her arm. She then went two half-blocks down and stopped, becoming stock-still at the scene before her.

The little boy-the spirit, Rukia knew and to whom she had promised the old toy to, was...clutching the larger hand of a tall man. Her gaze arrested at once by the stranger's crown of bright carroty hair then fell to his face and the gentle attention he was showing to the spirit's talkativeness.

_He..can..see him? _

This shook her to the core. Not once in her sixteen years had she ever encountered another, someone who could see and converse with ghosts as if they were any other material being. _I'm not crazy_. _There's another_-her mind fervently repeated what her eyes saw. But as relief washed over, relief regarding the knowledge that no matter what her brother had said nor the doctors he had made her see..._something else_.

Something strange, foreign. Contrary to what she felt moments before, boiled up.

_Anger-Fear-Repulsion_.

Almost physically she recoiled, flattening her slender frame against the wall when the little boy had started to turn toward the corner where she had been observing them.

_No-No-don't see me_-

Her fists balled against the brick exterior of the building. In the dim recesses of her consciousness she was very aware of how ridiculous the reaction had been to the stranger's eyes. They hadn't met, hers and his. She had merely seen the turn and motion of his body pivoting slowly to where the ghost had looked.

-_let me go_-

"Please." The word slipped from her numb lips. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, her taut fists loosened. The ghost's quiet, tinny child's murmur reached her ears.

"I just saw her, the girl who plays with me sometimes! She's.."

The gray sidewalk and early sunshine slanting through the buildings onto the street faded.

-_coming-he's coming-don't let_...

Her body moved of its accord. She tore away from her hiding place, running until her lungs felt like they wanted to explode, her trembling legs refused to stop shaking. She had never felt such overwhelming fear, such irrational terror and danger from a mere stranger before.

_That man_...

At the gates to Karakura high, Orihime's cheerful greeting roused her.

Rukia glanced over her shoulder.

._who was he?_

(*~*)

Someone was watching them. His senses tingled, his gaze turned down to the small child made it seem as though he wasn't aware of it. _There_...from the corner of his eye, he discerned movement. At the corner in the shadow of the building someone hid. _Was it a Hollow?_ He quickly dismissed that thought. Any Hollow would've charged forward, eager to devour the earth-bound spirit whether or not a guardian Shinigami was present. _One of Aizen's Espadas?_ It was likely one of the ten had been sent to report on the remaining Kuchiki clan forces and whether or not it was the right time to crush the survivors.

His countenance darkened. Ishida had gone missing after the last reincarnation, Matsumoto was in Tokyo searching for anyone who might've survived the massacre. _It was unlikely_..in his mind's eye the face of another floated before his consciousness. Bitterness raged behind his slightly scowling face.

The spirit tugged on his hand.

His reverie broken, he emerged from his memories hiding his anger behind a mask of geniality. "Hmm? What is it?"

"I just saw her, the girl who plays with me sometimes! She's over there!" The little boy said excitedly, pointing to the corner where he had glimpsed the slight figure.

_A human who can see spirits?_ In the deepest part of his soul, something stirred like a silent calling. "Well, she must be shy then! Since she hasn't come out!" The ghost grinned and began to pull them toward the sidewalk. "She is! But she's also really nice! I think you'll like her, Ichi-nii!"

"I probably will." he smiled faintly at the ghost's eagerness. His eyes snapping up to catch the dart of the person's shadow. Running. His vision swam and the sunlight became darkness. _Trees. A house in the forest. And running. Always running_. In the background he heard the disappointment in the ghost child's voice.

"She's not here."

His eye was drawn to an item-a child's toy. Rather battered and beaten, the red airplane lay on its side on the pavement as if cast-off, or dropped. Sliding free his hand from the boy's, he knelt down, reaching for it.

Fear lanced through him like a knife. His fingertips recoiled from the battered wing tip. The emotion pulsed in his head, swelling until his lungs were constricted. _Run-Run away-Far-faraway_. His amber eyes shot open. "..faraway where he'll never find me." His lips formed the words, the feeling fading.

"I-I have to go." he rose steadily, composure hiding the turmoil within.

"Okay.. "

He took a step forward, insensible to the ghost's sad look.

"I'll see you _again_, won't I?" the ghost's tone brightened.

Barely hearing it, he replied off-handedly, "yeah, sure."

**You cannot escape me**-

-_Kuchiki-sama_-

-**this time...you will be mine**.

~To be continued~

Disclaimer: don't own Bleach

AN: *.* thanks for reading.

No flames-haters-stupid comments!

Reviews appreciated! ^^


	2. Forgotten

"..with a topping of bean sprouts and leeks! Now what're you going to order, Rukia-chan?" Orihime's eyes glowed, "would you like the same?"

The petite raven-haired girl laughed a little nervously. Orihime's weird concoctions were infamous at their school, everyone knew what to say when the beaming orangette appeared with the pink bento box in tow.

"N-no thanks." Offering up a hasty smile, Rukia turned to the ice-cream cart vendor in the Park. "One chocolate single scoop, please." While the man filled their order, her eyes passed over the peaceful scene. Children playing in the distance, mothers idly pushing baby strollers down the many intersecting paths. A breeze ruffled the branches of the trees and...

Her heart leapt.

Standing in the middle of the path ahead of them. His back to the scene of child-like enjoyment from the confines of the playground was the man from before. _No_...Rukia immediately rescinded her original assessment. _He wasn't much older than she_. Not with that full head of hair, nor face unmarred by the ravages of age. Only his brow and his mouth were creased. Scowling as though everything in the world were against him.

Rukia knew the feeling.

"'hime.." not taking her eyes off of the stranger, she spoke louder. "Orihime!"

"Y-yeah, Rukia?" A little startled by the forcefulness in her tone, Orihime had turned, her coin purse in hand.

"Do you see-" for a second she had taken her eyes from him. Only a moment had passed between meeting Orihime's anxious look and turning her gaze back. "He's gone!" she cried aloud, her eyes darting about searching for the stranger's lanky form. _Where could he have gone-! I-I did see him_...at once plagued by self-doubts and uneven staccato pulsing in her ear-drums, she was aware of her friend moving closer.

"Hey."

She looked back to the girl's understanding expression.

Orihime inclined her head toward a bench in a quieter spot down the opposite way meaning that they could talk there. Rukia nodded jerkily in assent, glancing over her shoulder every so often, following her friend's lead. Once seated on the wooden slatted bench, their backs resting comfortably against the curved frame, Orihime turned serious, somber eyes to Rukia.

"Talk to me..."

The petite girl looked away, already swearing to herself that she wouldn't involve her friend with the phobia-like psychosis that gripped her. _Was brother right? Am I going crazy..seeing things that aren't there?_ All the warmth left her insides.

"Rukia, look at me."

Downcast eyes slowly lifted meeting silvery gray.

"You're not crazy." Orihime reassured, then with a characteristic smile and infectious laugh giggled at herself for becoming steadily covered in chocolate and vanilla with leeks from the forgotten dripping cones. Rukia mustered a smile then a laugh as well, running back to the stand for a handful of napkins to help clean up the mess.

_How could she have forgotten? Orihime was always...there for her_.

(*~*)

After unburdening her heart, she felt better. Though there hadn't been much to tell only of the same man and of the same feelings of painful loathing that had arisen with each sighting, Rukia inwardly was relieved that Orihime had taken it all with wonder and puzzlement.

"So, you didn't know who he was?" Refreshed with another cone and wearing the other's light gray school jacket to cover the worst of the stains since Rukia had insisted upon it; the orange-haired girl observed the other's thoughtful expression.

"Not exactly." Rukia found it difficult to describe. There in the slanting afternoon sunshine, the solidness of the bench beneath her legs, she found she couldn't explain the feeling that had possessed her senses. "I-It was like I knew him-_in a way_..."

_Like someone in the shadows. _

_With a face and no name that I can place or I've forgotten_.

_I know him...from somewhere. From some time_...

She looked down at her clasped hands resting on her knees, feeling more than seeing the tiny crescent moon cuts into her palms that had come from gripping her fists so hard. She hadn't done this in such a long time..

_A woman screaming as a man struck her. The stench of alcohol overpowering the scent of burning food. And a boy with warm hands-her brother, shielding her from the sight of their parents fighting. _

_"Don't cry-" _

She blinked and the memory faded.

"-oh! That's right!" Orihime looked up from the matching pink watch on her left wrist. "Sora's going to be home soon, but would you like to spend the night at our place? Big brother won't mind and it would be no trouble at all! It would be like a sleepover on a weekday..." the easily excitable girl's eyes glowed.

Rukia thought of her tiny apartment with the upturned storage boxes serving as furniture, thought of her bedroll tucked in the closet on the side by the front door and the carton of their old things that had been salvaged from the fire. The airplane had come from there, a toy left in the front yard of the small-framed house that they all had once lived in.

She recalled it with detachment now. Her hands of their own volition had let go of the toy-the once cherished model airplane that had known life, joy and sorrow. She didn't want to go back to the place that was her home now, so devoid of the small happiness that Orihime and Sora shared.

"That'd be great, Orihime-chan." Rukia found it within herself to smile in gratitude. Ever aware of the tremulous hold she maintained on her emotions, she could still sense it. Lurking at the fringes of her consciousness. The fear intertwined with memory, the memory laced with knowing.

As she stood to follow her friend, a chill swept through her.

The noise of the living and the world fell away and only the breeze whispering through the trees filled the atmosphere.

_'-ber.'_

She strained to hear it.

_'Remem...ber...'_

Her gaze went past the still shadow-wreathed form of Orihime standing only a few feet away, seeking and finding the one she had been searching for.

The stranger was silhouetted by darkness and a bluish light that radiated outward from the center of his being.

His amber eyes stared deeply into hers, the distance falling away between them.

The wind's whisper grew more urgent.

His lips moved.

_'...remember me!'_

Rukia jolted from the emotion.

She couldn't hear the wind anymore, only Orihime's repeated calling of her name in anxious tones. Her eyes though knowing no one would be there, still traveled to the place where he had been. Feeling something sharp akin to almost disappointment stabbing at her heart with the confirmation of what she knew inwardly.

_Yes, some part of her that she couldn't understand- feared his presence, longing to be hidden away. Faraway. Away from him_.

But another part. The part of her that had long dreamed of finding another like her. Orihime had been the first to say she didn't need to be afraid of the child ghost that haunted the fourth floor of their old Junior high. But Orihime couldn't see spirits, didn't know what it was like to feel their pain and loneliness.

_That man could even touch them like they were any other living human_...

Despite everything, Rukia knew she _had_ to find him.

~To be continued~

AN: thanks for reading :)

No flames-haters-stupid comments!

Reviews appreciated and receiving them will make me update faster! ^-^


	3. Broken Threads

It went without saying that he hadn't expected to find the girl so easily. Yes, his sacred Gohou was the most skilled of them all in that respect, yet...he preferred to believe it was the irony of fate that directed his steps to the quaint non-descript Park much like any other to be found in small towns such as Karakura.

There, beyond the shade of the oak trees, standing at a break in the path, was **she**. Without a reasonable doubt... he slowly feasted his eyes upon the lovely slender-built girl. From the perfect raven tips of her hair dusting thin gray-jacket clad shoulders, to the delightfully petite hemline of the pleated gray skirt that hugged her shapely limbs.

In the past, such obvious admiration would've garnered the severest form of punishment. His blood still boiled at the memory of those other men touching her revered flesh, setting the fire inside him. How he had longed to rip them to pieces, break their skulls in, let their blood bathe her a crimson ochre. Even degraded by filth and poverty, her beauty shone through. Like a flower, a bud barely beginning to open to the world was how she was now.

The girl glanced up, large violet eyes, the depths of which he lost himself in, hadn't lost an ounce of their intensity. He longed to call out for her then, uncaring if damnation was all he'd find.

Then the moment was gone. As fleeting as it was bitter sweet.

Dark fury became a sheen over his eyes.

She had looked away, at another.

Without hearing their exchange, without knowing the thoughts of either as that gift belonged to Matsumoto; despise clouded his perception of the taller, fuller-figured girl. _A friend perhaps_, the voice of sanity intervened. His fisted hand slowly unclenched, the rise of his reiatsu had begun to wilt the leaves on the branches of the trees.

He had seen the look the human girl gave to her.

It was one of love.

(*~*)

She tried to push it out of her mind, the desperation in the stranger's face, burning in his golden amber eyes.

_Remember me_. The enigmatic words replayed over and over, interlacing through her thoughts. Twice, the dark-haired Sora Inoue had to repeat if she wanted something to drink. Surprised at the depth of her own reverie, Rukia shook her head mutely. Orihime was a few steps away, cheerfully bustling from the fridge to the narrow counter, carrying bags of strange greens.

Nervously then, Rukia decided it best to question what her hosts were making.

"Um, Orihime, what're-"

But, the girl exclaimed loudly, cutting her off midsentence. "Oh, no! I forgot I had used all the leeks in yesterday's Donburi! Big brother-"

She saw her chance. Rising quickly from behind the small round table, she stepped forward, smiling hesitantly. "I can go..." Sora had risen also and glanced between his younger sister and their guest as if saying _it's up to you_.

Orihime's face immediately creased into a pout, "no, no! You're our guest! We can't make you go out there-"

Rukia intercepted with another smile, slightly more confident. "That little store-" albeit she vaguely recalled the place, but wasn't it a little market of some kind-? "Urahara's. It's not too far from here, I'll just stop there."

"But!" Orihime clutched a long white vegetable and a slender Santoku knife, looking quite distressed. "No buts." Rukia briefly touched her skirt pocket, feeling the square billfold of Chappy design. "Be back before you even start to miss me." she teased, passing by her friend.

"Oh, Rukia, do be careful." The vegetable laid itself against her shoulder in a gentle pat. "For all you know that guy could be an evil alien who's going to suck your brains out!"

She laughed a little, ducking another gesture from the vegetable. "No..somehow I doubt it." The words had been meant to stave off any curiosity from Sora. Rukia could only bear so much concern for her wellbeing. Once outside in the tiny alcove, with the night air surrounding her, she let out a guilty breath she hadn't been aware of holding.

_Yes, she loved her friend deeply...but_...

"Byakuya." her voice was quiet, a whisper on the dimly lit stair.

_It hurt so much to see brother and sister together when the wound of how they had once been, still ached bitterly_.

(*~*)

His cell rang. The laissez-faire man in geta sandals glanced askance at his face, questioning in tones lacking emotion, "you gonna answer that?"

"What? And let you slide off and report to the Ichimaru clan the whereabouts of the Kuchiki?" he laughed unpleasantly, sharply. "I think not, Urahara. Everyone knows what a double-dealer you are."

"Au contraire, Kurosaki-kun." The shopkeeper known for the world as Kisuke Urahara, withdrew a thin paper fan from the air itself, lightly flicking it across his shadowed face in quick, rapid motions. "Your mistrust wounds me greatly."

"Tch! Yeah right, all you're after is a profit. Full of greed until the end." Kurosaki sneered, his fingers folding over the name flashing on the screen. _Matsumoto_. Undoubtedly calling to check up on him as was her habit for the last fifteen years. It angered him now to think that his comrade thought him still unstable. That he would sacrifice the body of the host all for the darkness of oblivion.

"One day you'll see." Urahara gave him a peculiar half-smile, eyes beneath the shade of the green-striped hat, glinting with a strange light. Then the man was gone. Footsteps were crossing the front and Urahara's voice came distinctly to him. "Ah! Such a lovely young lady to be out on such an evening! What may I provide you with, my dear?"

Kurosaki stopped listening. The man never changed. It was difficult to believe the very same Kisuke Urahara, proprietor of the Urahara Shoten had once been a feared ekusoshisuto known throughout the Hueco Mundo underworld and to all earthbound spirits. Perhaps several centuries without anything meaningful but continued existence had driven the man to seal away his Gouhou and Kama for an ordinary life.

But _he_ would never do that.

Not while he had sworn to protect Kuchiki-sama both in body..and **soul**.

~To be continued~

AN: I'm so sleepy! =.= no flames.

Thanks for reading!

No reviews and the story won't be updated


	4. The thin line of trust

Leeks. Rukia found the blond shopkeeper's solicitous tone overtly friendly. She had the distinct feeling he was a pervert and had no wish to be subjected to any untoward advances.

"Thank you, Mr. Urahara." she said firmly, disliking the narrow confines of the small store. Aisles of medium height ran four thick filled with all manner of canned goods and one row in particular was dedicated to all types of candy. On the side against one wall were the vegetable crates. After being guided to them, Rukia had selected from the topmost basket, a bunch of green stalked, pungent-smelling onions.

All the while she had been aware of hovering- it wasn't the shady merchant for he had stayed up at the front, pointing her in the right direction with a white paper fan. _Was she imagining it- this feeling of being watched?_ She thought of the Park and of the walk that remained back to the apartment; regret at being so hasty in volunteering making her hands fumble with the yen. Urahara's smile was even more pronounced.

"Thank you kindly." Her purchase was slipped into a brown paper bag.

Rukia waited with mounting impatience as he took his time in handing it to her.

"Have a goodnight..." his eyes were half-lidded, shadowed under the brim of the striped hat. Her hand closed around the side of the crinkling paper, snatching it away hastily. She couldn't explain her sudden mounting unease, her glance darting to the dark corners of the Shoten. Her legs had almost carried her to the threshold when Urahara spoke again.

"Oh and take care..._Ms. Rukia. _There are far worse things that haunt the night on evenings such as this."

"I-" her head had turned to the side to reply, the words containing a snappish undertone before they died in her throat. _My name-?_ Passing her tongue over her suddenly dry lips, Rukia felt her heartbeat increase subtly. "I-I will."

She couldn't tell whether or not Urahara acknowledged this with a brief dip of his head for a few steps sounded around the back end of the shop. The shopkeeper's voice possessed a chirrup to it. "Ah! Mr. Kurosaki...find what you were looking for?"

Her hand was on the bamboo panel.

A dull hollow thud on the floorboards reverberated as the presage to something else.

Dimly she was aware of holding her breath, of tensing in expectation of his voice. How she knew it was him, the one whom had begun to steadily dominate her thoughts. This mysterious stranger whom she felt this undeniable lure like a call from the innermost depths of her soul yet something else. Something that bled fear into her veins, made her heart clench like a vise had been placed on it. _Kurosaki_..

"Yes, I have. I've been looking for such a long time for it."

For one moment, every very breath in her lungs was stolen.

"I cannot believe this day has finally come."

The flap fell into place behind her.

~*Obsession*~

_Why do you run? _

The night air brushed coolly against his face, hands in pockets he appeared the picture of idle passersby on the way home from a quick stop at the market. However this was naught but an illusion as he had no place to go. The safe houses maintained by the Kuchiki clan had all been lost after **her** demise over twenty-five years ago.

_Is it because you know I will pursue? _

The items he had purchased saturated the plastic grocery bag Urahara had so kindly procured for him. The plastic sides clinging damply to the metallic cans of tea. _"Two, Kurosaki-kun?"_ The glower he sent hadn't deterred the man's knowing look and furtive smile. Urahara wasn't to be trusted yet the mere fact that the former Ekusoshisuto knew of her continued existence placed **her** in great danger from the other clans.

_You're so cruel, Kuchiki-sama. Testing my loyalty in such a way_.

Without a doubt, Matsumoto's Nekomata familiar, Haineko would come in search of him. Afraid of finding the worst yet unable to simply turn her back on him as her comrade. Such was the line of trust they retained. One could even say it was fine as a single thread. A matter of orders- commandment that held them together when mutual reliance had become nothing more than a memory.

He had planned on apprising her on what he had found yet had wished to gain insight on the mindset of the girl. Her fear of him was as enticing as it was wounding. But, Kuchiki-sama had never thought a thing of mixing the two together into some vile, hideous poison. Pain became pleasure. Tenderness became agony. The paradox seemed almost an absurdity when it was within the darkly angelic face.

Yet the allure remained.

Kurosaki could neither break nor desire to sever the bond between them.

Amusement lent an unpleasant twist to his mouth. _It seemed they would meet face to face sooner than he had thought_.

A foul rankness was carried as undertone in the night air. A piercing screech resounded once then again. He was aware of the subtly elevating pressure building in the atmosphere_. A Hollow_...

Moments later, a scream shattered the darkness.

-TBC-

AN: thanks for reading :)

Ekusoshisuto: Exorcist (very roughly translated)

Kama: Sickle (think of it as scythe)

No flames-haters-stupid comments!

Reviews appreciated :)


	5. Unwanted Destiny

Orihime peeked out the curtains in the front room, a few lights shone down the street, puddles of yellow luminescence barely disturbing the miasmic-like darkness. Sora's light footstep sounded close by. "Worried, 'hime-chan?" His sister thought her own fears silly and sighed away, pushing the thin fabric closed. "Yeah," she turned and gave him a soft slightly guilty grin.

"Maybe I shouldn't have sent Rukia out...you know how afraid she is of the dark!"

Sora gathered the day's paper from the pile of a mail on the counter, his eyebrow tilting up in Orihime's direction. "Um...I thought that was you who were afraid of the dark?"

She giggled self-consciously in response.

...

Shunpo made the town blocks fly in blurs, his steps silent, swift, fleetingly through one dark alleyway after another, a peculiar pressure lay stilted in his chest, sluggish beside every palpitating breath of his heart. _Fear_. The old fear of never making it in time. Kurosaki shut his emotions, forced himself to breathe. This wasn't like before. _Kuchiki-sama wasn't running this time_.

Rounding the last street corner, his amber eyes flew first to the girl sprawled on the pavement, her face a study of terror, a scream fighting its way from her throat - to the beast crawling on all fours toward her.

Large as a small car, body red fur-covered, hide thick, clawed feet indenting the asphalt with each scrabbling motion. The head of the creature hung upside down, slavering jaws agape where a hissing noise issued forth. The girl shrieked again, her hands fumbling over the ground, searching for any weapon - he had to admire her presence of mind, finding it somewhere within him to smirk, striding out of the shadows as he did.

"Well, well, _well_. Metatascia. Where'd you drag your ugly mug out of from?"

The kumo-type _Hollow_ turned its dozen eyes upon him, the hissing noise refining itself to a deep slithery hiss. "So, still alive, Kurosaki? Rude as ever for a human."

"'Course." He casually dropped the bag with a clang to the ground, propping one hand on his narrow hip. "Someone's gotta keep the trash like you out of normal people's way." He could sense the looks tossed his way, the girl's spark of understanding - _she wasn't crazy_ - _there was a monster in the middle of the avenue_ - then abrupt irritation.

"Just kill it already!" she snapped, clawing at her bag. The smirk playing on his lips lost its forced quality, now there was the petite fire he had been waiting to see. The confirmation needed - other than the onions she threw at his head. _Silly girl_. The burning in his chest ebbed subtly, its fade replaced by the other emotion.

Metatascia saw the ripple, its thoughts turning to escape rather than a feast.

"As you command." His jaw clenched, the cocky smirk vanishing for a split second, his body already in motion, casting the crushed bag of fragrant onion bulbs in her lap, his senses probing for the spark dormant within him - _'oi! Old man! Wake up!'_ - he silently yelled, a sensation like his fingers catching on string pulling it tight preceded the black miasmic flash of a sword. A dignified snort from within was the response of the Zanpaku-to. Kurosaki shunpo'd forward, slashing mightily at the front forelegs of the spider, blood splashed the air along with the beast's inhuman scream.

"Curse you-" it spat, scrabbling back on remaining legs. The severed appendages flopped in wet circles on the road, sticky white streams burbled within the maws of the Hollow. Kurosaki pitilessly vanished, reappearing behind it with a light tmp.

"Yeah, yeah. Curse me to Hell." He sneered softly, performing a swift set of sword strikes, at the very last he took the head, plunging his free hand into his coat pocket, withdrawing the last of the sutras old man Yama had prepared for him. This, he stamped down on the forehead of the beast, ramming his sword hilt to the paper. "Tell me how you like it." he grinned, an effusion of light flowing from his sword to the rest of the Hollow's body. "Hell that is!" A final flash and snarl...then silence. Kurosaki sighed, rising from his kneeling position. "Damned bastard got me anyway." Dull now, with resignation in the action, he dismissed the sword in a sprinkle of ash just as small pounding footsteps echoed up the deserted boulevard.

"How'd you- who-" the petite raven-haired girl fired off, then as her almost too large violet eyes drifted down to the singeing on his shirt, barked, "you're hurt!"

"I'm fine." He snapped, rolling his eyes discreetly. Part of him thrilled at the fact that Kuchiki-sama had noticed - _worried_ - but another older part of him rejected the notion_. Kuchiki-sama was just testing him...luring him into her silken threads of deceit_. Kurosaki sighed, fending off the tiny hands that reached out though hesitantly, "for the last time, midget girl, I'm-" he broke off with the punch to the face that she dealt him.

Almost immediately, the girl jumped back, scowling, angry but almost smug at the same time. Kurosaki blinked then reached up, running his fingers over his bleeding nose as if to make sure it really wasn't broken. "You- you just punched me!"

She winced at his tone but pumped her small fists in front of her. "Yeah so what! Don't be calling me a midget girl when I'm just trying to help, baka!"

Watering amber eyes widened incredulously at her. "Trying to help?" he repeated to himself then roared back, "what the hell! I'm the one who saved your skinny ass and now you hit me just 'cause I said I was fine? What the fuck kind of logic is that?"

"Mine!" she snapped, getting up in his face. Eardrums still ringing from the petite one's voice, Kurosaki's expression ranged between out and out disbelief as her tiny hand latched onto the lapel of his jacket, hauling him with surprising strength back around and up the street.

"Where're we-" confused, he watched her snatch up his bag and swing it threateningly close to him like a whirligig, her violet eyes blazing, "shut up, baka!" then lower, biting her lip, eyes sliding around, "...can't take him to Orihime-chan's, Sora-san'll think this guy mugged me-"

He twitched, "um...I can hear you-"

She whacked him with the cans, the rattle and subsequent cry of his earning a few lights flickering on in a building across the street. The girl saw and immediately sped up, all but hauling him down a few more blocks to the edge of a sloping green turf.

"The park?" Kurosaki muttered, disbelievingly. Her eyes met his, the cans rising ominously. He swallowed any further comment and scowlingly followed her to the sand area of the children's playground. Once there, the girl dropped the bags on a nearby bench and spun around to face him, something in his face forcing her to drop the intense annoyed look she'd been giving him, her gaze falling to the side - _refusing abjectly to meet his stare_.

"Alright! We're here now-" she took a shallow breath in, his amber eyes noting the way her thin chest rose and fell with the motion. "I want some answers! Why are you following me?"

_Ah. Playing at naivety, Kuchiki-sama?_

That he could play at.

A tiny smirk, a tilt of half-lidded eyes sent her way. "What makes you say that? Isn't it the other way around?" Then as she bristled barely perceptible to his enhanced sight, his tone dropped lower, caressing. "Besides. Isn't that the worst thing you could've done...I mean...if I was following you..." her glance flickered to him, annoyance in every line of her pouting face. "You're alone with me now...in the darkness."

...

Rukia suppressed her shudder, her insides quivering from his last statement. Catching the smirk playing on his thin yet wide lips, she realized he'd been baiting her. Deliberately trying to get a rise out of her. Her ire flared again, "I'm not defenseless you know!"

His posture relaxed then unbelievably he laughed.

A cruel, cold sound of mirth.

She hated it immediately as much as her belief it was a false front for hiding his true motives. "Stop it..." Rukia mumbled, barely aware of gripping her fists at her sides. "Stop it. _Stop_ laughing at me!" He jolted - that she was surprised by - then the fleeting shock was gone, masked behind a carefully placed smirk of faded amusement.

"Alright." He propped a hand on his hip, a casual gesture, "since you asked so nicely, I will."

Their eyes met silently, violet warring with amber.

She refused to look away first. "What's your name?"

He broke her gaze, striding past her, nearly brushing against her side. Rukia's insides coiled, tightening in revulsion. She pushed aside the feeling in favor of curiosity.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." He replied crisply, stepping a few feet away to the bench, the bags rustled as he bent a little, a metal chink following seconds later. Rukia bit nervously down on her lip, unsure of whether or not it had been a good idea after all to stand around with a stranger in a deserted park - _surely Orihime-chan was worried that something had happened_-

"Hey, you gonna introduce yourself or what?" He - no, _Ichigo_ called, snapping open the pop tab to the can. Rukia watched him seat himself down, spread-legged as most males were, face half in shadow from the overhanging tree behind the bench. Coming to a decision, she strode forward calmly, almost haughtily, taking the sealed can from him.

"Kuchiki Rukia." she perched on the edge of the wooden slats, a secondary snap following. Ichigo wet his lips nervously - _almost_ - the action seemed to belong to a much younger man. Indecision, she could tell, didn't run strong in him._ Cocky assholeness yes_. At that thought her mouth twitched into a smile which she hid behind the rim of the can.

"I don't know...how to say this." Ichigo began after a long pause, "I mean...I've rehearsed it in my head for many nights...just somehow never thought it'd actually get spoken...that I'd...find _you_." His sentence dropped off in a peculiar note, one that sent an involuntary shiver up her spine. Rukia kept her eyes fastened on the swingset, a side filmstrip in her mind running images of she and Orihime playing on it, _Sora taking turns pushing them - Byakuya's stern voice chastising her lateness_ -

"There are many things in this world." He came out with suddenly, his expression twisting between annoyance and a scowl. "Beings, I guess you could say like humans. But alongside the humans...are ghosts. Spirits and such...not all are bad, some are even helpful. But there are some like Metatascia-"

"Like a fairytale. The monsters and the baddies. Was that the line of crap you were going to feed me?" She scoffed, he glowered.

"-not really. 'Cause a fairytale ain't real. Hollow spirits like Metatascia are. See, the majority of them reside in the underworld known to us as Hueco Mundo, 'cept certain gifted people who are spirits themselves take on human form - kind of like possess them and such. They take over the host's life and make it their own." He glimpsed her face - _the disgust_, softening the irony from his tone. "They're called the Ekusoshisuto. They're armed with spiritual powers called Gohou and weapons like kama or in the rare case," he couldn't resist smirking, "a katana like myself and basically we all go about slaying the Hollows-"

"That's all well and good." Rukia interrupted, skepticism oozing off of her like a frog. "But how do you expect me to believe you? This sounds like some kind of dream dreamed up on crack!" she jabbed her untouched tea can in his direction, sloshing sweet liquid everywhere. "Are you _high_ or something!"

Again he resisted the urge to slap her pretty little face and use his powers to break her mind. _It would've suited the powerless - memory less Kuchiki-sama just right for toying so easily with their duty, when he remembered every searing second of their seeming eternity together like it was yesterday_. Deep inside, his old partner grumbled against the course presented by his seething mind, though in truth the old man would've been unable to stop him.

"No." He sipped at the overly sweet liquid, the aftertaste of bitterness soothing the beast raging behind his mild amber eyes. "I don't expect you to believe me." He shrugged luxuriantly, gaze tilting up to the sky. She tensed. "Hell! I wish myself it were all just a dream..." he quirked the hint of a smile. "Just a _bad dream_." _One I can never end from_.

Rukia tightened her grip on the can, clutching it as though it were her lifeline to sanity. "If you say that...then why do you still do it?" her voice ended tiny, innocent seeming violet orbs fixated on him, fascinated by him.

His amber eyes rolled from the heavens he'd never see the light of, pinning her to the core with veiled animosity. "'Cause..." he leaned forward, body scrunching, jacket rustling as he reached with his free hand across the distance to clasp her tiny chin, "_you_ ordered me to."

Defiant to the last, her sparking violet eyes promised murder if he didn't release her soon.

Ichigo found he liked daring the powerless Kuchiki-sama, _to do something_.

_Anything._

_To cross that line_...

"What the hell do you mean?" Rukia demanded, her chest suddenly tightening with those same feelings from before. Claustrophobia, pain, resentment flaring through her white-hotly. Yet through it all, she sat, motionless, her eyes snared by the sudden malicious light dancing in his strangely ancient eyes.

"You're..." he breathed, every sense aware of her delicious palpitating beats of heart. "...the reincarnation of our leader, my dear Kuchiki-sama."

-TBC-

AN: -.-; sorry for not updating. I did this chapter in hopes I could resurrect my enthusiasm for this plotline, so far I'm drifting - could be 'cause it's late. *note this is inspired by another great manga/anime which isn't well known* ^^ *must go to bed soon*

No flames please.

Reviews loved :)


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